Adjustable die support



United States Patent 3,489,049 ADJUSTABLE DIE SUPPORT Alexander Krynytzky, West Seneca, N.Y., Arthur K.

Schott, Greensboro, N.C., and Otto Hoifmann, Tonawanda Township, Erie County, N.Y., assignors to Houdaille Industries, Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., a corporation of Michigan Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 596,385 Int. "Cl. B26f 1/14 US. Cl. 83-690 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tool support structure for a punch press includes a housing, a vertically movable die guided by the housing for vertical movement and guided by the housing against horizontal movement, a wedge member acting between the housing and the die, and means for moving the wedge member to alter the vertical position of the die.

This invention relates generally to punching machines, and more specifically to an apparatus for adjustably supporting a die thereon.

Punching machines have heretofore been provided wherein the tooling including the die is freely and readily interchanged with other tooling, such as dies of various sizes. The usage of any one particular die in a set in the possession of the user will vary from die to die. Therefore, the need for sharpening the same will vary correspondingly. Certain dies will therefore be ground off at their upper workpiece-engaging surface, thereby altering their effective height. Further, in certain instances, it is difficult to grasp a die that is seated in a tool nest, and therefore it is desirable to be able to elevate the die structure, for the purpose of facilitating grasping thereof preparatory to interchanging of such die with a further die.

Still further, in some instances, a die may project upwardly into the path of a clamp which is attached to a workpiece. Where such be the case and the punching ma chine is manually operated to the extent that the workpiece is moved about manually, no problem arises. However, when the workpiece is moved about in the X and Y axes under the control of a numerical control device, the programmer would need to program what would otherwise be a direct move as a U-shaped move to avoid having the clamp impact against such projecting die.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel structure for adjustably supporting a die.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a die support structure for a punching machine so that compensation may be made to maintain a constant shut height, even though various dies of various heights are interchanged.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a structure for adjustably supporting a die by which the position of the die may be temporarily elevated to facilitate the grasping thereof.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a structure by which a die may be retracted from its normal operating position so that it does not comprise an obstruction during movement of the workpiece, such as an obstruction to a clamp secured to such workpiece for moving it.

Many other features, advantages, and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and to the accompanying sheet of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment 3,489,049 Patented Jan. 13, 1970 incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

On the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken in a vertical plane through adjustable die support structure provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1.

As shown on the drawings:

The principles of this invention are particularly useful when embodied in a punching machine having an adjustable die support structure such as is illustrated in FIG. 1, generally indicated by the numeral 10. This structure is also referred to herein as a tool support structure. The tool support structure 10 is fixedly detachably secured to a punch press having a fixed bed 11 having an aperture 12. The tool support structure 10 includes a housing 13, a wedge member 14, a lower vertically reciprocable tubular member 15, an upper vertically reciprocable tubular member 16, a die 17, and moving means in the form of a hand screw 18, and a linear fluid actuator 19.

The housing 13 has a bottom surface and an upwardly directed surface 21 which are intersected by an aperture 22. The housing 13 further includes an upper portion having a guide opening 23 which guides the tubular members 15 and 16 and the die 17 for vertical movement.

The wedge member 14 has a flat lower surface 24 and a flat upper surface 25, both of which lie entirely in two converging planes. The wedge member 14 has an aperture 26, here shown to be of oval horizontal cross section. For any position of the wedge member 14, the wedge aperture 26 is larger than the aperture 22 in the housing 13 so as to provide no partial obstruction thereof. In this embodiment, the upper wedge surface is inclined, as shown.

The lower vertical reciprocable tubular member 15 has a lower surface 27 which likewise is inclined so as to be complemental to the surface 25 of the wedge 14. Inclined surfaces 25, 27 are always in engagement. The tubular member 15 has an aperture 28 extending therethrough, which is of the same size as and aligned with the housing aperture 22. The tubular member 16 has a corresponding aperture 29. The apertures 22, 26, 28 and 29 are aligned with a central aperture 30 in the die 17, which aperture means comprises a slug chute.

The moving means 18 comprises a hand screw which is rotatably supported by a threaded collar 31 carried by the housing 13. The screw 18 has a hand wheel-32 and an inabutment against which the wedge member 14 may ner end 33 at its opposite end, the end 33 serving as an abut. When the screw 18 is turned inwardly, the distance toward the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, which the wedge member 14 can be moved, is reduced. As drawn, the wedge member 14 is substantially at the left end of its maximum travel.

The moving means 19, like the hand screw 18, is also a linear acting device which serves to move the wedge member 14 in a direction parallel to the wedge surface 24. Such wedge movement alters the vertical position of the die .17, either raising it or lowering it as desired. The linear fluid actuator 19 is secured to the housing 13, as by a number of screws 34, and includes a rod 35 which is fixedly secured to the wedge member 14.

If desired, the housing 13 may also support an indexing ring 36 which is secured by a key 37 to the housing 13 for orienting the position of the die 17 about its vertical axis. This feature is not of any consequence when the die opening is circular, but when the die opening is noncircular, such keyed alignment ensures that the die will be in position to coact with a correspondingly shaped punch,

a round punch 38 being shown in the drawing. The keying structure 37 is known in the art.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tool support 10 is secured to the bed 11 by means of a pair of pins 39, 39 and a pair of screws 40, 40. The upper portion of the housing is indicated at 41, and if desired, it may comprise a separate element secured by a number of screws 42 to the lower part of the housing 13.

Note that the lower surface 24 of the wedge member 14 is parallel to the direction of motion of the wedge member 14.

In normal operation, the hand wheel 32 will be so set as to shift the wedge member 14 to the right to the distance necessary for elevating the die 17 to compensate for the amount of metal that has been removed from its upper surface by grinding for sharpening purposes. When it is desired to remove the die 17 from the nest provided by the upper portion 41 of the housing 13, the actuator 19 is retracted or moved to the right as shown, thereby moving the wedge member 14 to the right and elevating the die 17 for facilitating the grasping thereof. Thereafter, movement of the wedge member 14 to the left restores the level at which the upper surface of the tubular member 16 is disposed, thereby readying such support surface for the reception and support of a further die member 17 of like height. In the event that the second die 17 is of different height than the die 17 removed, corrective adjustment of the hand wheel 32 will readily facilitate the reestablishment of the shut height of the press. If desired, the actuator .19 may be connected into a fluid system which is under the control of a numerical conrtol device, all in a known manner.

In the event that it is desired to use this device as a die retraction device, then the actuator 19 is normally positioned to the right so as to hold the die 17 in a relatively high position for punching. When a move of the workpiece is to be programmed which would bring a clamp into contact with the projecting die 17, then the actuator 19 would be extended so as to take the position shown in the drawing, thereby retracting or lowering the die 17 to the position illustrated until the move has been completed. The magnitude of the retraction under this type of operation is determined by the setting of the hand screw 18.

In the structure illustrated, it is to be noted that the space surrounding the upper portion 41 of the housing 13 is relatively unobstructed, thereby providing clearance for an associated workpiece-supporting table. The hand wheel 32 is normally disposed so as to be readily accessible to the operator, and thus may be at the front of the machine, immediately below any such workpiece supporting table.

Although various minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of our contribution to the art.

We claim as our invention:

1. A tool support structure for a punch press having a fixed bed, comprising:

(a) a housing having a bottom surface for being supported on said bed and an upwardly directed surface over said bottom surface;

(b) a wedge member having a flat lower surface supported on said upwardly directed housing surface, and having a flat upper surface overlying said lower wedge surface, said lower and upper wedge surfaces lying entirely in two converging planes;

(c) a die supported on said wedge member and guided by said housing for vertical movement, and against horizontal movement; and

(d) means for moving said wedge member in a linear direction parallel to one of said wedge surfaces for altering the vertical position of said die.

2. A tool support structure according to claim 1, having means defining an aperture extending from said die, through said wedge member and housing surfaces, to the bed through which slugs may pass.

3. A tool support structure according to claim 2, said aperture in said wedge member being of such larger size as to provide no partial obstruction of said aperture in said housing for any position of said wedge member.

4. A tool support structure according to claim 1, in which said moving means comprises a linear fluid actuator acting between said housing and said wedge member.

5. A tool support structure according to claim 1, said moving means comprising a hand screw acting between said housing and said Wedge member and a liner fluid actuator acting between said housing and said wedge member, said hand screw adjustably limiting the distance which said wedge member can be moved in one direction by said actuator.

6. A tool support structure according to claim 1, in which said upper wedge member surface is inclined and in which said lower wedge member surface is parallel to the bottom surface of said housing.

7. A tool support structure according to claim 1, which includes a vertically reciprocable tubular member disposed between said wedge member and said die, and guided for vertical movement by said housing.

8. A tool support structure according to claim 6, which includes a vertically reciprocable tubular member disposed between said wedge member and said die, and guided for vertical movement by said housing, said tubular member having a lower surface which is inclined and which is complemental to and is in engagement with said inclined upper wedge member surface.

9. A tool support structure according to claim 8, which includes:

(a) means defining an aperture extending from said die, through said tubular member, through said wedge member and housing surfaces, to the bed through which slugs may pass, said aperture in said wedge member being of such larger size as to provide no partial obstruction of said aperture in said housing for any position of said wedge member; and

(b) said moving means comprising a hand screw and a linear fluid actuator each acting between said housing and said wedge member, said hand screw adjustably limiting the distance which said wedge member can be moved in one direction by said actuator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,684,934 9/1928 Woodworth 83700 X 3,316,790 5/1967 Frederiksen 83700 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,127,765 4/1962 Germany.

WILLIAM S. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 83-700 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,489,049 Dated January 13, 1970 Inventor(s) Alexander Krynytzky, Arthur K. Schott and Otto Hoffmann It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 51 follows line 49.

Column 3, line 32, delete "conrtol" and insert "control".

SIGNED AND SEALED JUL 2 8 1970 EdwardEFlemha-Jn m m. A 0mm commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC 80376-96 FORM PO-lDSO (10-69] I u.s. covuuumn unmnc ornc: nu o-ui-al 

